Why Asking for a Quote Too Soon Is a Bad Sales Tactic

By Matthew Parker

The following post was originally published by Printing Impressions. To read more of their content, subscribe to their newsletter, Today on PIWorld.

Most salespeople ask for quotes too soon.

I constantly receive calls and emails with a few brief details about a company. This is immediately followed by a request to quote on any projects that I might have coming up.

As a buyer, I can react in four ways to this:

I can ignore you
I can ask for a quote to get rid of you
I can ask for a quote so that if it is cheaper I can use it to beat down the price of my current supplier
I can ask for a quote so that if it is cheaper I can place the work with you—but only until I find a cheaper supplier

None of these are great outcomes!

There’s another issue with asking for quotes.

It makes the conversation all about price. I’ve often had salespeople asking me for a quote “just to see if we can do the job cheaper.”

So what’s the alternative?

Have a look at my next article in PI World—I’ll be sharing three ways to make your first message much more compelling!

PS Find out more ideas on how to engage with today’s buyers: download my free e-book “Ten Common Print Selling Errors and What To Do About Them” right now at http://profitableprintrelationships.com/e-book/ You’ll also receive my regular “Views from the print buyer” bulletin, full of ideas on how to sell print effectively. Also, check out my book “Done For You Sales Scripts.” Here’s the link: https://profitableprintrelationships.com/online-training-resources/done-for-you-sales-scripts/

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Matthew Parker Author's page

Many printing companies are frustrated how hard it is to engage buyers in today’s world. That’s where Matthew Parker can help. He is a gamekeeper turned poacher. Parker has bought print for more than 20 years and received over 1,400 print sales pitches. He now uses his buyer’s point of view to give practical advice to printers. He helps them engage with prospects and customers to create profitable relationships.

Download his free e-book, "Ten Common Print Selling Errors And What To Do About Them" and check out his recently launched book, "How To Succeed At Print Sales: Setting targets, planning the right activities and making sure goals are met."